Author Topic: Calibrating a solder station  (Read 3114 times)

Tony3dd

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Calibrating a solder station
« on: November 03, 2013, 10:35:21 AM »
Is it safe to use a multimeter to calibrate a solder station? Will the high temps damage the thermocouple?

SeanB

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Re: Calibrating a solder station
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2013, 12:36:06 PM »
Might cook the plastic insulation off the wires, or discolour the glass fibre sleeving, but otherwise will do nothing to a Type K thermocouple.

TechJunkie

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Re: Calibrating a solder station
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2013, 07:22:12 PM »
Are you referring to using a K-Type thermocouple with a multimeter? If so, you need to make sure you have a high temp thermocouple, there are several kinds of K-type thermocouples, and I have most. the standard K-type TC (got tired of typing thermocouple) only goes to around 200C which will not be sufficient for the measurement, not to mention the sealed bead of epoxy that cover some low temp or standard type K-type TC will melt off. The high temp K-type TC usually goes up to around 520C to around 550C which has a metal sense wire and a braided metal sheath to the coupler. These type will handle direct flame and very high temps. The best thing to do is check your heat rating of the TC, if it is not at least 500C then it probably won't help you much.
Eric Haney
Systems Programmer, EE, MCSE, DMC
SilverCore Labs